This is a work of fiction. I don't own Star Wars or any of its characters. All Original Characters are the product of my imagination and are used in a fictitious manner. This is purely fanfiction to be read at the readers own discretion and pleasure.

Disclaimer: Viewing discretion is advised as this chapter will contain mentions of slavery, suggested violence and prostitution.

Don't worry, this story will only be rated T and so the content will only be T. But I will include a little disclaimer at the top of the page to warn readers about some of the content so they may skip or avoid it if they feel uncomfortable with it just in case.
Other characters will be introduced in later chapters, I just have to get the ball rolling. Also please feel free to leave a review about your thoughts, I'd love to hear anything so I can improve.

Prologue

Nobody ever warned her that she'd sweat this much in one day. Of course, that was to say she had someone to warn her about things. It was an unusually hot day, considering it was the middle of spring. Everything seemed to wilt in the heat, except perhaps her spirit, which only wavered under the sun.

After all, it was only the sun. It was nothing in comparison to the rest of her life. She had been born Alia and by some sort of luck had managed to keep the use of her first name even when she had been lost to another master and sold to another. Most slaves didn't have the pleasure of using their own names if they had one. Many times they only had the demeaning nicknames assigned to them from their masters, names to remind them how worthless they really were. Slaves weren't really people in their eyes, so why should the masters grant them a name.

But there, of course, was a difference in masters and what they wanted the slaves for. So perhaps it wasn't so much so luck, as it was a necessity in why she had kept her birth name. Considering her master was the owner of a bordello or brothel as most would know it by. A name made it easy for clients to identify her and as her master had stated only once, the client was always the priority.

However, unlike many of the other slaves that Alia's master, Laveve Siphe owned, she was too young even for a slave to be used by the clients. Younger slaves, under the age of 12, were assigned domestic duties like laundry, cleaning and running errands on occasion. They would also be taught by many of the older courtesans how to properly 'look after' a client so that when they finally reached of age, they were competent.

Domestic duties didn't mean that Alia's life was any easier. Often waking up before the sun to begin her work, making sure the establishment was kept looking as beautiful as the courtesans inside. Which could mean any number of things, like scrubbing the floors on her hands and knees until she could see her reflection in the pale marble. Or cleaning windows until it looked like there was nothing between the frame, or dusting away what little dust had managed to collect between cleanings. Luckily Alia didn't have to do all the chores, Thanti, who was the other underage slave who had been assigned domestic duties. He didn't talk much, but Alia felt they were close because he always offered to do the scrubbing, dusting and window washing if she took laundry. Though she supposed it was because laundry always took the longest and was the hardest to do.

Alia loathed laundry duty. It was always done by hand out in the little, hidden courtyard which always seemed to be in full view of the sun. There was little relief with the sun beating down against her skin and head. The walls surrounding the courtyard blocked any breeze. Her scalp always seemed to be burning under the gaze of the sun. Sweating didn't help either, no matter how much sweat there was, nothing seemed to cool her down and all it served to do was remind her how hot it was. But while she hated laundry duty, she felt pity for Thanti, whose dark hair would burn much worse than her blonde hair.

Her pity only worsen when she thought about Thanti completing all the chore on his own, until another underage slave was bought to lessen the load. She was turning 12 shortly and would soon be relegated to courtesan duty. She prayed that she would, by some force-given miracle, be taken away or even kidnapped in order to not have to become one of the courtesans. However, she doubted heavily it would happen and chose to instead take pleasure in the domestic duties assigned to her.

Alia couldn't sleep the night before she turned 12. Not with the looming change in duties that would be forced upon her tomorrow.

So instead she chose to perch near the window that overlooked the front of the establishment, keeping hidden in the shadows near the window. It wouldn't do her any good if she scared any prospective customers away by looming in the window. Her master would surely hear about it and punish her severely.

But she couldn't even think about that right now. Alia just chose to blank her mind and gaze at the stars, eventually letting her mind wander. She always eventually ended up thinking about her family when her mind wandered, asking questions about them. What was her mother doing right now? What about her brother? While Alia didn't have the answers to those questions, she imagined how they were doing. Thinking about her family was a rare thought these days, she was often too tired or too busy.

Her mind drifted off to when she was sold here, only days past her sixth birthday. The last birthday she had spent with her twin brother and her mother.

"Happy Birthday Alia and Anakin!"

"Happy Birthday Ani!"

"Happy Birthday Ali!"

It was just her mother and twin brother wishing her happy birthday, but it was the greatest thing in the world to her. Even though they never had much, Shmi always made sure to have something extra special for their birthday. Even though they never had enough for gifts, but they managed to find a way to make up for it.

On their birthday, Shmi always had some sort of special treat. It wasn't ever much and there was rarely enough for all of them. Shmi often forewent it in favour of letting them have their fill, but she never minded because she always reassured the twins that their smiles were enough for her.

When she was taken away, he had promised to find her and free her. Free them all. He'd promised to always protect her.

"Ali! One day I'll find you again and free you. We'll live happily and there will always be enough for all of us to eat. When I'm old enough I'll be able to protect you and mum. I promise. I love you." Anakin promised me, held back by Shmi as two black clad Durosians took Alia away crying out for her family.

Of course, Alia hung onto that promise until the first time she was punished and was in denial about him not coming. She had cried herself to sleep, whispering about how he was just late. After a few more punishments, she eventually came to the realisation that it was a lie and she was truly on her own now. He wasn't going to save her after all.

A few, lone tears trailed down her cheeks at the thought. She only had the comfort of a single star gazing down from the skies now. She hoped one day to be free and see them again. But for now, she could only cry herself to sleep. There was little else she could do in fear of angering her master.

One day seemed so far away. She could only hope it was sooner rather than later.